Oscillating-fan motor.



W. N. MOTTER & F. S. KOCHENDORFER. OSCILLATING FAN MOTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 7, 1900.

1,073,617. Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

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OSGILLA'IING PAN MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1009.

Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

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OSCILLATING FAN MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1909.

1,073,617, Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

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W. N. MOTTER & F. S. KOCHENDORFER.

OSGILLATING PAN MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7. 1909.

1 ,073,6 1 '7 Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

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UNTEJ STATES OFFICE.

WILLIAM N. MOTTER, AND FREDERIC S. KOCHENDORFER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A

CORPORATION 01* NEW YORK.

OSCILLATING-FAN MOTOR.

T 0 all 10710172, it may concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM N. lVIo'r'rnR and Fmcosmo S. KooHENnonrnn. citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin- Oscillating-F an Motors, of which the following is a full, cl ar, concise, and exact description.

Our invention relatesto oscillating fans of the type in which a movable *ane is adapted to be interposed autonnitically in the current of air set in motion by the fan for the purpose of unbalancing the pressure of air on each side of the axis of the fan, and thereby causing said fan to oscillate from side to side on its standard.

The principal object of our invention is to provide an oscillating fan motor in which the wind vane is placed in the position most effective in establishing an unbalanced condition in the pressure of the air set in motion by the fan, that is, in a position where the pressure of air is the greatest per square inch, thereby making it possible to use a vane of minimum area for a given turning effort.

A further object is to convey the current from the standard upon which the fan motor is pivoted to oscillate to the motor without the use of rubbing contacts, such as collector rings and brushes, thereby reducing to a minimum the friction incident to said rubbing contacts.

Our invention contemplates a vane adapted to revolve in the path of the current of air set in mot-ion by the fan blades together with mechanism automatically operated during the oscillatory movement of the fan, for stopping said vane on each side of the axis of the fan to maintain an unbalance in theair pressure on one or the other side long enough to cause said fan to oscillate on its standard, said mechanism being also adapted to release said vane preferably near the end of each oscillation. In the preferred form of our invention the vane is carried at the ends of arms which are in turn carried by a hub frictionally mounted on the motor shaft and driven thereby, said vane being Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 7, 1909.

Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

Serial No. 494,574.

adapted to be revolved around the outer ends of the blades in a circle concentric to the axis of the fan.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, we will describe our invention in detail.

Figure ,1 is a front elevation of an oscillating fan motor embodying our invention, the fan blades being partly broken away; Fig. 2 is a top view of said fan; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in front elevation showing the stopping and releasing mechanism; Fig. 4: is a side elevation partly in section showing said mechanism in one of its engaging positions; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view partly in section showing said mechanism in its other engaging position and also showing the means for conveying the current from the standard to the motor; Fig. (3 is a sectional view in the direction of the arrows on line (i-t3 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the vane and the hub in which it is carried; Fig. 8 is a view in elevation of the standard in which the motor is mounted to oscillate.

Similar reference characters are used to designate like parts throughout the several views.

Our invention isparticularly adznted to the usual desk type of fan motor such as we have shown in the drawings in which 1 indicates an electric motor adapted to drive a set. of fan blades 2 carried on its shaft and 5) indicates the usual open-work guard surrounding the blades. Betwoen the hub on which the fan blades 2 are mounted and the bearing for the motor shaft 5, we provide a hub l on said motor shaft 5. This hub is preferably in frictional engagement with said shaft and is adapted to be frictionally driven in the same direction as the fan blades and at a speed relatively slower than the speed of the fan blades. The hub -.lhas projecting radially from it two arms 7-7 on the outer end of which is mounted a vane 6 bent to the curvature of the circle described by the outer ends of the fan blades and lying at right angles to the radii of said circle. The vane 6 is preferably adapted to be revolved in the space between the outer ends of the blades 2 and the guard 3, and is stopping and releasin adapted to intercept a portion of the air set in motion by'the fan, that is, in the preferred arrangement, it is adapted to move in the .path of the air drawn into the fan, so to speak. The hub 4 is provided with a counterweight 4: to balance the weight of the vane 6. y

In order that the vane 6 may maintain an unbalanced condition of the alr pressure on one or the other side of the axis of the fan for a period long enough to cause said fan to acquire its proper oscillating movement, mechanism is pro vided which is adapte ,during the oscillatory movement of the fan, to automatically stop said vane on each side of the axis of the fan and to preferably release it when the fan has neared each end of its rangeof movement. This mechanism comprises a member 8 hinged at 9 to a plate 10 secured in any suitable manner to a downward extension 11 of the motor 1 and is adapted to oscillate with the motor and also to oscillate, that is to swing on its own hinge 9 through alimited range. The member 8 carries on its upper end the arms 12 and 13 which extend upwardly one on each side of the hub 4. The arm 12 is providedwith'a lateral projection 12 forming a hook, while the arm 13 is arranged with its end 13 cut oil horizontally to form an abutment; the end 13 and the under edge of the hook 12 being arranged in a substantially horizontal line with the axis of the fan and are adapted when the member 8 is swung on its hinge to be interposed alternately in the path of a lug l carried on the hub l. On the lower end of the member 8 is a rockshaft 14 adapted to rock in a suitable bearing in said memher; this rockshaft being provided with an upwardly and downwardlyextending cranklever 15 and 16, respectively,ton opposite ends thereof. The crank-lever 15 has sobored to its upper end one end of a spiral spring 17, the other end of which is secured to the eyelet 18 on said member 8. The other crank-lever 16 is adapted to strike the stops 19 and 20 when the fan has neared each end of its range of movement; These steps determine the limitsof the range of movement of the fan and may be placed in any of the holes 21 in the standard 22 to adjust said limits. The purpose of the rockshaft 14 and the spring 17 is to permit the crank-lever to yieldingly strike the stops 19 and 20 and to cause the fan to oscillate smoothly.

The downward extension 11 of the motor 1 is provided with a chamber 23 into which extends the upper end of the standard 22 upon which the motor is mounted to oscillate from side to side. The upper edge of the standard 22 and the bottom of the chamber 23 are preferably provided with correaoraerr sponding raceways 24 between which the balls 25 are adapted to run to form a bearing for the motor to oscillate on, although any suitable form of hearing or pivot may be used. On the extension 11 near its lower ard. The standard 22 is provided at its up-.

per end with a chamber 2S-Whichcontains at its bottom suitably insulated sockets 29 and 30 (Figs. 5 and 6) to whichline wires may be suitably connected to form terminals therefor. Into these sockets are adapted to be removably inserted the plugs 31 and 32, respectively, carrying at their upper ends, and supporting in position, an insulating disk 33. On the upper and lower sides of this disk are fiat spiral conducting springs 34: and 35loppositely wound and secured by their outer ends to the upper ends of the plugs 31 and 32, respectively. Extending downwardly from the motor casing and insulatedly supported thereby are two parallel conductors or rods 36 and 37 connected by their lower ends to the inner ends of the conducting springsB l and 35, respectively. A hole 38 is provided in the insulating disk to permit the conductor 37 to be connccted to the inner end of spring 35, this hole being large enough to allow the conductor 37 to move freely therein when the motor is oscillated in itsbearing. The conductors 36 and 37 form terminals for the leading in wires 39 and 40, respectively, of the motor; During the oscillatory movement of the motor 0n the standard thesprings 34 and 35, being oppositely wound, neutralize each other, hence, they ofier no retarding force tothe motor, and at the same time they form an unbroken connection between the motor and the standard and thus serve to properly conduct the current and to eliminate trictional losses and other objectionable features incident to the use of moving contacts such as collector rings and brushes.

The operation of our invention as em bodied in the structure shown in the draw ings is as follows; When the tan is started in operation the vane 6 will be revolved on its hub lfrom anyposition in which it may previously have stopped, until it reaches one or the other of the positions shown inv dotted lines or full lines in Fig.1, in which position the lug i" will be engaged by either the book 12' of the arm 12, or the abutting end 13 of arm 13, depending upon whichever side of the axis of the fan the vane may have been revolved to. Assuming that the fan has been started and the vane revolved to the position shown in full lines 1,073,817 all in Fig. 1 from some position intermediate of its positions shown in said figure in which it may have previously stopped. The vane will be held in said position by the hook 12 of arm 12 being in engagement with the lug 4 on the hub 4. The vane will therefore unbalance the pressure of the air set in motion by the fan and cause said fan to oscillate in one direction in a manner well understood in the art. The tan will continue to move in that direction until the crank-lever 16 strikes the stop 19 which swings the member to its opposite position, thereby removing the hook 12' from lug i" to release the vane and interposing the end 13, of arm 13 in the path of the lug i The vane will then be revolved to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, whence the end 13 of arm 13 will engage the lug i and retain the vane in said position. The vane will again establish an unbalance in the air pressure but on the opposite side of the axis of the tan, and the fan will move in the other direction until the crank-lever 1(3 strikes the other stop 20 and the vane will again be released and the same cycle of operation will be again repeated.

In the preferred form of our invention the vane is driven t'rictionally by the motor shaft, hence its movement is always positive and it will always be revolved to one or the other of its operative positions regardless of the position in which it may have previously stopped.

In the drawings we have shown the standard as being made up of two parts 41-1 and t2 clamped together in beveled relation by the bent bolt 43, the purpose of this arrangement being to permit the fan to be used either as a wall type or a desk type. This construction, however, forms no part of our present invention, hence it is not particu larly described.

TC claim:

1. The combination with a motor and a fan driven thereby, of a vane frictionaliy driven by said motorbent to substantially the curvature of the circle described by the outer ends of the fan blades and lying at right angles to the radii of the circle and adapted to revolve around the ends o l the fan blades and to be stopped and released alternately on each side of the axis of the fan to cause said fan to oscillate from side to side, and means operated in the oscillatory movement of the fan for alternately stopping and releasing said vane.

2. In an oscillating electric fan, the combination with a motor and a fan driven thereby and a standard upon which said motor and :fan are mounted to oscillate, of a vane trietionally driven by said motor bent to substantially the curvature of the circle described by the outer ends of the fan blades and lying at right angles to the radii of the circle mounted concentric to the axis of the fan and adapted to be revolved around the outer ends of the fan blades in the path of the air drawn into said fan, and means for automatically stopping and releasing said vane to alternately unbalance the air pressure on each side of the fan to cause said fan to oscillate from side to side.

3. The combination with a standard, a motor and a fan driven thereby pivoted to oscillate on said standard, a hub, and a vane carried thereby, frictionally mounted on the motor shaft and adapted to revolve concentrically with respect to the axis of the fan, a lug carried by said hub, a pivoted bifurcated member arranged to oscillate with said motor and adapted during the oscillatory movement of said motor to interpose its arms alternately in the path of movement of said lug to alternately stop. and release said vane on either side of the axis of the fan.

41-. The combination with a standard, a

.motor and a fan driven thereby, pivoted to oscillate on said standard, oi a hub and a vane carried thereby, frictionally mounted on said motor shaft and adapted to revolve in a circle concentric to the axis of the fan,

a lug carried by said hub, a pivoted bifur cated member supported by said motor and adapted to interpose its arms alternately in the path of said lug to stop and release said vane alternately on each side of the axis of the fan, stops on said standard at each end of the range of movement of said tan and a yielding extension carried by said member adapted to strike said stops during the oscillatory moven'ient'. of said fan to swing said member upon its pivot.

5. The combination with a tan and a standard upon which said fan is mounted to oscillate from side to side, oi a vane bent to substantially the curvature of the circle described by the outer ends of the fan blades and lying at right angles to the radii of the circle and adapted to be revolved around the outer ends of the fan blades and to be arrested alternately on each side of the axis of the fan and held until said fan completes each oscillation, and means, automatically actuated at the end oi each oscillation, for releasing said vane and allowing it to be revolved to the other side of said fan and for simultaneously interposing a stop in the path of said vane to arrest said vane when it rearhes said other side.

6. The combination with a standard, of an electric fan-motor pivoted to oscillate upon said standard, said standard having a chamher in its upper end terminal sockets in said chan'iber, an insulatingdisk and plugs carried thereby adapted to enter said sockets, parallel insulated conductors carried by the motor and extending into said chamber, and In Witness whereof, We hereunto subscribe fiat opposed spiral springs, one on each side our names this 28th day of April A. D. 1909.

of said insulating disk, connected by one of WILLIAM N. MO'JITER.

their ends to said parallel conductors and by FREDERIG S. KOOHENDORFER. 5 the other of their ends to said plugs for con- Witnesses:

veying the current from the standard to the J. B. LUsE,

motor. A. W. K. A'rwoob. 

